Swift lawsuit: Illegal workers were hired to keep wages...

December 19, 2006

Swift lawsuit: Illegal workers were hired to keep wages low DALLAS (AP) -- Former employees are suing Swift & Co. for $23 million, alleging the meatpacking company conspired to keep wages down by hiring illegal immigrants. The 18 former employees are U.S. citizens and legal residents who worked at a plant in Cactus, north of Amarillo, one of six facilities raided an a multistate federal sweep that led to the arrests of nearly 1,300 employees and temporarily halted Swift's operations. "These plaintiffs are ... victims in a longstanding scheme by Swift to depress and artificially lower the wages of its workers by knowingly hiring illegal workers," said their attorney, Angel Reyes. "By lessening its labor costs and increasing its profits, Swift has severely damaged the potential earnings and livelihood of these hardworking men and women." Greeley, Colo.-based Swift and the Dallas investment firm that owns it, HM Capital Partners LLC, said in a statement that "the lawsuit is completely without merit." The lawsuit was filed late Friday against Swift and HM Capital Partners in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. They contend Swift and HM Capital Partners engaged in racketeering to manipulate commerce. "When the Swift plant opened in Cactus, wages were approximately $20 an hour," said another plaintiffs attorney, Michael Haygood. "Now, the average wage is approximately $12 to $13 an hour. Illegal immigration has fueled this depression in wages." The raids were part of an investigation into the theft of Social Security numbers by people to work at Swift plants in Cactus, Grand Island; Neb.; Greeley, Colo.; Hyrum, Utah; Marshalltown, Iowa; and Worthington, Minn. Although no charges were filed against Swift, Reyes said the plaintiffs believe company officials looked the other way when hiring workers from Central America willing to work for less money. Over time, those workers began replacing legal residents and U.S. citizens, many of them Hispanic, Reyes said. Swift President and CEO Sam Rovit has said the company has never knowingly hired illegal workers and does not condone the practice. The lawsuit stems from a separate case in which former Swift employees claimed they were fired for filing workers compensation claims, Reyes said.